Beer - it's not just for breakfast anymore
by K.C.Dragonfly
Summary: "...at the very least you need a beer." Frank Zappa. Utterly pointless oneshot about the graveyard team unwinding after a stressful shift.


**Just a oneshot to fulfill a bet I made a while ago :) It's nothing much but I hope you like it anyway **

**Disclaimer: I don't own etc etc**

**x x x x**

"This place smells funny." Grissom wrinkled his nose up distastefully, casting a wary glance around the room.

"Oh lighten up." Catherine nudged him sharply in the ribs. "Have a drink."

Just on time, Nick arrived at the table with a tray full of beverages and a beaming grin.

"Suds up!" He announced jovially.

They selected their drinks and settled back into the worn cushions. It had been a long shift and a bit of downtime had been needed before anyone could even contemplate going home.

"Who even picked this place?" Grissom asked at last, pulling a face at his beer.

Without saying a word, all eyes turned to the two members of the team who hadn't yet joined them in the corner booth.

Greg cocked his head to the side, a gleeful smile twitching at his lips.

"I like Sara in those jeans." He declared, unabashedly gawping at the brunette as she bent over the pool table.

"You like Sara in anything." Hodges snorted as Sofia lightly smacked the drooling DNA tech upside the head.

"I'm guessing Warrick doesn't like Sara right now." Brass smirked, noting the despondent look on their colleague's face as Sara easily cleared the table for the second time in a row.

"She's good." Catherine commented, taking a long sip of her drink.

"You willing to challenge her?" Sofia cocked an eyebrow teasingly at the older woman.

"Ha, are you kidding?" She scoffed. "Do I look stupid?"

"I will!" Greg leapt up to take his turn as Warrick sloped over to join the rest of the gang.

"She kicked your ass, huh?" Nick chirped.

"She's impossible." The dark-skinned man sulked, talking a large gulp of his drink.

"Get some liquor into her." Mandy suggested blithely. "That ought to slow her down a little."

"Are you kidding? That just makes her cocky!" He laughed, wiping the foam off his top lip. "More confidence is the last thing she needs!"

Clearly Greg was discovering the same thing, not that he appeared all that bothered. In fact, he seemed more concerned with the positions Sara was contorting herself into across the pool table in her tight-fitting jeans than the game itself.

"If he leans over any more he'll be on the floor." Wendy laughed merrily, pointing at the lovesick lab rat.

"Are we interrupting your thoughts, Gil?" Catherine teased, leaning close enough to her supervisor to startle him out of his thoughts. Blatantly ignoring her jibe, he finally managed to tear his attention away from Sara and turned to quirk a suspicious eyebrow at Warrick.

"How often do you two come here?"

"I don't know." Rick shrugged lazily, slinking down comfortably in his seat. "Couple of times a month."

"Alone?"

"Why?" He smirked playfully. "You jealous?"

Grissom bristled, straightening up in his seat.

"Don't worry." Warrick chuckled, flashing him a wink. "There's plenty of me to go around."

Amongst the barely-stifled giggles of the group, Sara and Greg sidled over and slid into the booth.

"That was a short game." Catherine noted, calming down enough to hand Sara her beer bottle.

"He sucks at pool." The younger woman commented, settling against the strawberry-blonde's shoulder and gladly accepting the drink being offered to her.

"Hey, as long as you have fun, right?" Greg winked at the boys, taking a long cooling gulp of his own beer.

X x x

"Your round, Sidle!" Nick slurred, waving his empty bottle in the air as proof.

In comparison to the lightweight Texan, the majority of the group were still relatively sober.

"Not for me, I think I'm going to head off." Mandy announced, hauling herself to her tired feet.

"Yeah, me too." Wendy agreed, using the people on either side of her to propel herself up. "Hodges?"

One by one, as the lab rats decided to call it a … well, morning; the CSIs elected to stick around for one more.

With a list of orders in her head, Sara waved goodbye to the departing members and stalked across the dance floor to the bar.

She liked this place. It had become her's and Warrick's little hideaway after tough shifts, but today they had decided to share it with the group.

Grissom aside, they all appeared to have fallen in love with it as quickly as she had.

It was just a dingy little joint off the strip, but it was their joint and it always made her smile.

Leaning casually against the bar waiting for the barmaid to take her order, she surveyed the peeling paintwork and flickering lights with an affectionate smile.

"Hey Sticks!" A bright voice exclaimed. "Long time no see!" She turned, surprised to find herself engulfed in a tight hug.

"Stacey, hey!" She greeted, somewhat caught off guard by the familiar arms wrapped around her slender neck.

"Where have you been, I haven't seen you in ages!" The excitable blonde continued, releasing her enough to give her a once over. "You look good!"

"Thanks, I … uh," she stuttered, gesturing weakly to the bar in an attempt to hide the blush flooding her cheeks. "Can I get you a drink?"

The rest of the teams presence completely forgotten for the time being, she moved back to order and was stopped by a gentle but firm hand on her arm.

"I'd love to but I can't I'm afraid," Stacey shook her head. "I'm meeting someone." As she spoke she turned casually towards the door and a wide smile broke out across her face. A pretty red-head sauntered under the dim lights towards them and draped an arm across Stacey's shoulders, fixing Sara with a curious look.

"Sara, this is Jessica." Stacey introduced, turning to place a soft kiss on the red-head's – Jessica's – lips. Sara's heart sank just a little, but she hid her disappointment with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you, Jessica." She greeted softly.

"Likewise." She nodded abruptly, turning to her date. "We'd better get going if we're gonna make that reservation." Stacey hummed in agreement, leaning forward to give Sara a peck on the cheek.

"We'll catch up soon; you owe me a drink Sidle."

And with that she was gone, sailing out of the door hand in hand with Jessica. Sara watched her go with a heavy heart, before a low voice in her ear made her leap out of her skin.

"You like her." Sara spun around, catching the bar to steady herself, and found herself staring at the cocky grin of Catherine Willows.

"Jesus Cat, don't do that!" She gasped, catching her breath. "Where the hell did you come from?" Cath continued to smirk playfully at her.

"You like her." She repeated. The words finally registered and Sara's defences rocketed up around her.

"I don't know what you mean." She straightened up, flicking her dark locks over her shoulder.

"Bull." Cath retorted coolly. "I could see it a mile off."

"I don't...I'm not..." Sara stammered but the older woman placed a caring hand on her arm, stopping her rambling any further.

"Sara, relax honey; I already know." That caught Sara's full attention.

"What?"

Blatantly ignoring her colleague's shock, Cath wandered around her to lean against the bar.

"Well, are you getting the drinks in or what?" She joked, beckoning the bartender over. "Nick's getting impatient."

Sara dumbly handed over the money and Catherine helped her carry the orders back to the table, all the while watched suspiciously by her colleague.

"Where'd you two get to?" Nick asked, snatching his beer up.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Cath replied teasingly, sending Sara a sly wink. Brass chuckled at their playfulness.

"Now, now girls." He mocked. "Greg's had enough excitement for one night. Any more and his head might explode."

X x x

"Come on, dude." Warrick heaved Nick to his feet, steadying the smaller man against his chest. "Let's get you to bed, sleep off that booze."

"Are you going to be alright with him?" Grissom queried uncertainly.

"Oh yeah, I can handle Nicky." Warrick chuckled. "It's not the first time, is it man?" He shouted, earning him a half-hearted slap from the leathered Texan.

Standing up and stretching her tired muscles, Sara moved to grab her jacket from the back of the sofas but Catherine forcibly dragged her back down by the back of her clothes. She fell into the blonde, looking up at her with started eyes.

"We're going to hang around for a bit." Cath stated calmly, snatching her near-empty drink up from the coffee table.

"We are?" Sara inquired weakly.

"You sure?" Jim asked, bundling himself into his scarf.

"I want to test these pool skills of hers." Cath grinned mischievously.

"Good luck." Warrick chuckled, placing a kiss on her cheek and squeezing Sara's shoulder gently before regaining his grip on Nick's shoulders and marching him to the door.

"Get a cab back together." Grissom said pointedly before leaving them to it. They rolled their eyes in tandem at his helpless attempts at protective parenting.

"I'll rack it up…" Sara announced when an awkward silence settled over the two of them. Her attempts to stand up yet again resulted in her being yanked back down by a firm tug on her clothes.

"We're not playing pool." Catherine declared.

"Then why are we staying?" Sara asked, although in the pit of her stomach she had a feeling she already knew the answer. Cath grinned, making herself comfortable in the booth.

"The sexy blonde at the bar." She quirked an eyebrow. "What's the story?"

"There is no story." Sara shrugged, her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh please," Cath scoffed. "I've never seen you so flustered."

Sara pursed her lips, looking away.

"Alright, I'll tell you." She agreed at last. "As soon as you explain what you meant by 'I already know'."

"Do I need to explain it?" Cath frowned. "I would think it was pretty self-explanatory."

Sara dropped her gaze, tugging on a loose thread.

"How did you know?"

The sheepish tone in her voice caused Catherine to soften her own.

"Little things. Like the other day when I was changing and you turned beetroot and practically climbed into your locker to avoid looking at me." She chuckled. Sara felt her cheeks flame and shifted uncomfortably.

"I was trying to give you some privacy." She argued. Cath just laughed again, shaking her head in amusement at the feeble excuse.

"Sara, I was a stripper!" She pointed out, causing the telltale blush to creep us Sara's face again. The blonde smiled sympathetically at her obvious plight, reaching out to lay a hand on her colleagues knee. "Honey, it's okay. I won't tell anyone your little secret if you don't want me to." She promised. "But, since your friend couldn't stay, how about we share that drink? You owe me some details."

"What kind of details?" Sara asked suspiciously, narrowing her dark eyes.

"You know, the kind that you share at slumber parties and such." Cath replied as if it was self-explanatory. However, judging by Sara's baffled expression, she over-estimated the simplicity of her statement.

"How many slumber parties do you think I've been to?" The young brunette questioned. "You know, being a social reject in high school is one thing, being gay is another thing entirely, especially amongst the girls."

"Gay?!" Catherine exclaimed, blinking at her. Sara met her perplexed expression with one of her own.

"What did you think we were just talking about?" She asked, puzzled.

"I thought you were bi; what about Hank? And Grissom?!" The blonde raised an eyebrow, making wild hand gestures as she spoke. Sara chuckled softly, her body beginning to relax a little now that she was the least flustered of the two.

"Hank was a temporary lapse in judgement and everything with Grissom is a figment of your twisted imagination." She retorted playfully, earning a sceptical look in return. "He's a good friend, that's all."

Catherine still did not look convinced but didn't challenge it.

"I've had boyfriends, but nothing serious. I've always been more into girls." Sara continued shyly, looking anywhere but at her companion.

"Really." Catherine hummed, mulling this information over. She shot a sly glance at her friend out of the corner of her eye, a devious smile creeping across her lips.

"So when I was changing..." she started but Sara cut her off.

"That was not..."

"It's okay, I'm flattered." She assured her. "I was just wondering – entirely objectively – where I would feature on a scale of one to ten."

Sara laughed, shaking her head adamantly.

"No way, I am not answering that!"

"Come on, I won't be offended." Cath pressed.

"You're my supervisor."

"I don't care. Tell me."

"No." Sara answered resolutely, effectively ending the conversation. Sulking, Catherine turned back to the dregs of her drink with a pout.

Sara paused a moment before answering. "Twelve."

X x x

"Hey." Cath stopped her progression across the parking lot with a strong hand on her arm. "I'm sorry about Stacey."

"It's okay." Sara shrugged, offering a sad half smile. "It was a long time ago, I'll get over it. It's just hard sometimes, when you see them again, you know?"

Catherine nodded in understanding, a sympathetic smile dancing across her face.

"Yeah." She agreed softly, stepping closer. "Well, maybe this will help you forget about her."

To Sara's surprise she stopped, toe-to-toe with the brunette, and pressed a firm kiss to her lips.

When they eventually pulled back she cupped Sara's cheek lightly, offering her a bright smile before stepping back and sashaying her way across the parking lot to flag down a cab.

Sara cocked her head to the side, a bemused smile gracing her features as she stared after the blonde.

"Forget who?"

**~fin~**

**Thanks for reading :) **


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